I loved, loved, loved these as a kid! I think the Kinnikuman figures is one of the greatest collections of characters ever. The Kinnikuman creators made characters of all facets of the imagination. There was NOTHING that they could not make into a wrestler. Character inspirations ranged from Deities to household appliances. And they all were brought to realization with the greatest of enthusiasm.

Even though the Kinnikuman universe was established in Japan through the comic and cartoon series, as a Westerner I was introduced through Bandai's M.U.S.C.L.E.S toy line. I had no clue to the characters histories. But I LOVED how they looked and felt they were the perfect size to put in a pants pocket for later play.

This toy line was my inspiration for convincing Jerry, Bill, and Gobi to do a Designer Toy Line with the Lucha Libre universe. It is also a long term goal of mine to do Lucha Libre figures in the same scale, style, and material as the M.U.S.C.L.E.S figures (right on down to that wonderful pale pink rubber!).

Here's a really nice website archive about Kinnikuman. Not all the links work but the ones that do are very comprehensive. Check it out:

AMERICAN KINNIKUMAN INFORMATION ARCHIVE

DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Vinyl, and Robots. What can be cooler than that?

I LOVED the Hard Sell Show @ The Hollywood Bowl... so I'm super excited to find out that the fine folks at Bigshot Toyworks have grabbed the license to do a vinyl toy version of the Juke-Bot.

ToysREvil did an expert job of investigating and revealling all currently known information about the Juke-Bot. For more pics of the Juke-Bot from ToysREvil, CLICK HERE.

As a fan of Ashley Wood's fine art and comics (remember my Automatic Kafka post?), I'm pretty excited about the beautiful Bertie combat bot that he's doing with Klim at Bigshot Toyworks. It's truly a work of art... and it'll be priced as one. Rumor has it this piece will be selling for somewhere between $200-$300.

Generally toys of that price are out of my price range. I'll have to make an exception with this one!

MORE UPDATES CAN BE SEEN ON ASHLEY WOOD'S BLOG (CLICK HERE).

By the way, my favorite McFarlane figure is the Hellspawn figure based on Ashley Wood's cover (the original Mandarin Spawn is a close second!).

I'm really excited about NECA's new TMNT comic action figure line. I loved the look Eastman and Laird came up with for their original TMNT comic. That pseudo-Frank Miller/Vaughn Bode style they developed has a very cool feel to it that was totally lost in the transition to the super successful Playmates toyline and animated show. NECA must agree because they are releasing TMNT figures based on the Eastman and Laird renderings.

You can see more images of the different figures and a look at the special comic-style black and white figure at ToysREvil.

My favorite turtle is STILL Donatello!

I'm going through shopping withdrawals.The Christmas "Spirit" results in me buying way more than I can handle. I LOVE buying cool presents for people. I want to be seen as that one guy that you can count on for a neat present. Unfortunately, taste is very subjective.While all my other friends are trying to buy things that are a bit more sophisticated like dress shirts and wallets...my idea of a cool gift is usually associated with fun t-shirts, games, and toys. I'm now past the phase of having some agenda with my gifts (during my college years...I was CONVINCED I could find the PERFECT Comic for everybody on my gift list...bad idea...my parents were VERY confused and a little concerned that year)...but sometimes I forget that people don't quite have the exquisite tastes that I have been endowed with.So sometimes,instead of giving up an AMAZING gift to a friend or family member that can't appreciate it...I'll buy that very gift for myself. This Christmas I did this...A LOT. My credit card is not happy...but, damn it, no one appreciates a BRILLIANT gift as much as I do!Case in point? These Super Mario Bros. Sound plushes. Any video game fan can understand their genius. These are the first generation sound plushes. The second generation (which include a new Question Block, Koopa Shell, and Invincibility Star) are of far inferior quality than these. Both the Goomba and Question block are perfect embodiments of both designs and are the perfect size at around 6 inches (16cm). Banpresto did an amazing job with these. Unfortunately, I think they realized they could sell with ease even at a far lower level of quality...hence the far inferior versions that are found with the second series.GoombaQuestion Block

Since it'd be super lame for me to give all of my friends and family Muttpop Toys for Christmas, here's a sampling of goodies that I'll be giving as presents...Amanda Visell's Pink Elephant is amazing! Amanda and Munky King really outdid themselves with this one. The articulation is subtle and clever (Drunky's head, elephant's nose, tail and feet). They did an excellent job of capturing Amanda's dry brush technique and the woodblock aesthetic of her custom toys. They even put magnets on all 4 corners of the elephant and Drunky McSkunky's butt to make sure Drunky firmly stays on top of the Elephant. One of my favorites of 2007.Gama-Go Deathbot looked cool in pics but I fell in love when I got my hands on him. The design is perfect for a wood toy. I really like the off color white they painted him in...it gives the toy an older feel. I was tempted to get the rarer Suit version but got the better designed regular edition. He's the perfect size to play with, the wire arms, legs, and neck have limited poseability...but you can get a decent amount of stances from them if you diligently loosen them up.Ghost Land Mini Figures are adorable and affordable. A nice stocking stuffer at $15 a piece that comes in a very attractive tin package. Brian Flynn's designs are super clean and the Japanese produced crystal clear vinyl is beautiful.Pink ElephantDeathbotGhost Land Mini Figures (Pic Stolen from Rotofugi)